The Crow Recycling Scrapstore will be open from 10am to 1pm on Saturday April 2. Fabric, plan and patterned paper and  card, sketch books, jewellery making supplies, wool, haberdashery and a host of other reused crafting supplies are in stock. Come and have a browse. The Scrapstore is a membership shop. Annual membership costs £10. Once membership is paid supplies are at bargain prices such as £1 for a ball of wool and £1.50 for a metre of fabric. Crow Recycling is a charity providing work placements for disabled people. The stock is donated and Scrapstore takings go towards keeping Crow up and running. More information here.  

Part-time Van Driver Wanted. Crow recycling requires a van driver to collect cans and paper for processing and to deliver bales of shredded paper and bales of crushed cans to customers, mainly in the Coventry and Warwickshire areas. The role requires a reasonable level of physical fitness, reliability, good organisational skills and accurate record keeping. Hours: 9am to 3.30 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There is a degree of flexibility for the right candidate. Salary: £9.50 an hour with statutory holiday entitlement Note: As Crow Recycling is a registered charity working with individuals with learning disabilities, this post is subject to completion of DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks. To apply send a CV and covering letter to Bill Smith, chairman of trustees, Crow Recycling, Sparkbrook Street, Hillfields, Coventry CV1 5LB. The e mail address is info@crowrecycling.co.uk Closing date Friday March 4 2022. Crow Recycling is on 02476552444

If you're visiting Crow pause in our hallway to have a look at this art work made from rubbish. It's a Crow made from Guinness cans collected by staff and volunteers at Crow as part of the organisation's used drinks can processing operation. Crow  staff and volunteers collect used cans, crush and bale them and sell them on to scrap metals dealers for recycling. The ones from this art work were selected by Coventry artist Val Hunt for reuse instead of recycling. Find out more about how Val Hunt creates art from all kinds of  rubbish as well as drinks cans here.

Part of a large recent fabric donation The Crow Recycling Scrapstore will be open on Saturday February 12 from 10am to 1pm. Thanks to a generous corporate donation there will be a large variety of fabric to choose from. Once the Scrapstore annual membership of £10 is paid fabric on the roll is only £1.50 per metre, sample books are from £1 to £2.50 per metre and larger and scraps and remnants between 50p and £3 each. Anyone planning a home made Valentine card for the special person in their life can buy patterned and plain card, card making stamps and back copies of craft magazines full of ideas. That's as well as all the usual wool, haberdashery, paint, pencils, crayons, paper, craft books, jewellery making supplies and embroidery thread. And of course the odds and ends all second hand shops get given that sometimes turn out to be just the thing someone had been looking for. Everything on sale is being reused so none of it costs the earth whether in cash or the planet's resources. The Scrapstore is an annual membership shop with membership at £10 for individuals or organisations. More information here.  

Christmas bows The Christmas and new year holidays are almost here. Crow Recycling  is closing at the end of the day on Thursday December 23 and reopening at 9am on Tuesday January 4. There will be a three day closure in January for staff and volunteer training. Crow will be closed on Monday January 10, Tuesday January 11 and Wednesday January 12 to give key staff and volunteers chance to complete training courses. Have a good break and a happy new year.

Artist Janet Tryner with her art work at the entrance to the Crow Recycling warehouse An art work in bright autumn colours is cheering up the entrance to Crow Recycling thanks to the Coventry City of Culture artist on my street scheme. Artist Janet Tryner visited Crow to create the leaf themed work in the windows at the front of the Crow Recycling warehouse in Sparkbrook Street, Hillfields, Coventry. The work even features a black Crow honouring the acronym Coventry Recycling of Waste from which Crow Recycling gets its name. The artwork is part of the artist on my street scheme which involves 21 artists creating artworks in windows in streets in Coventry and Warwickshire. The art works are funded by Coventry City of Culture. Lucy Lynch, Crow Recycling's admin and external relations officer, said: "Not many warehouses have a piece of art created for them so we're really pleased. If you're visiting Crow or dropping in at the Love Coventry second hand shop next door or the Hope Centre cafe at the top of the street make sure to take a look at the art work while you're there." Some of the materials in the art work came from Crow Recycling's Scrapstore, a membership shop selling reused items for arts and crafts. Crow Recycling is a registered charity providing work placements for people with disabilities. Other artist in my street locations to look out for are the Broad Street Hall in Foleshill, Coventry,  and the Moat Street Leisure and Neighbourhood Centre in Wood End, Coventry.  

At Crow Recycling we're helping restore some normality to the lives of our volunteers after they were turned upside down by Coronavirus. Our volunteers have a range of disabilities taking in learning difficulties, medical conditions and autism. For our volunteers the periods of restrictions were an isolating experience. For some periods of restrictions Crow closed and for others Crow stayed open but volunteers were sent home for their safety.  Some while at home were not able to see relatives, social events came to an abrupt end and for a few  usual carers had to shield. Lives are getting back to normal again and coming back to Crow is part of that. Volunteering for one, two or three days a week provides routine plus the social elements of work. Crow Recycling was set up in 1985 to provide work placements for disabled people.  Some of Crow’s volunteers are here for a short time and move on to more demanding placements or a paid job.  Others are with Crow long term appreciating the supportive environment we provide. As infections fall Crow is returning to offering short term placements to school pupils with special needs getting their first taste of life in the work place.  

Going freelance brings so many major challenges it is easy to overlook the mundane aspects of going it alone. Freelances usually list finding work and then charging the right price for their work as their two biggest challenges.  Once the work is done chasing late payers need to be done effectively to ensure the success of the venture. Giving short shrift to people who expect freelancers to work unpaid is another important but usually unwelcome task for new starters. At Crow Recycling we can give freelance customers chance to concentrate on these priorities by helping to take care of confidential document destruction. Confidential information takes in  paperwork including a person’s name, personal e mail address whether work or home account, personal phone number or personal postal address. The first step is to write a data retention plan listing how long each type of personal data needs to be kept. Once that has been done Crow’s shredding machines can destroy everything that has been kept as long as needed. Crow can do one off or regular collections from Coventry and Warwickshire. For some customers bringing confidential waste to our warehouse is a better option. We can collect confidential waste or accept confidential waste at our warehouse Mondays to Wednesdays. For more information e mail info@crowrecycling.co.uk or ring 02476552444. We also collect non confidential paper which is sorted and sent to a paper mill for recycling. Crow is a registered charity set up to provide work placements for disabled people.

If employees are coming back to the office the chances are the waste paper is back too. At Crow Recycling we can do one off or regular collections of confidential waste paper. Crow can collect the waste from businesses in the Coventry and Warwickshire area, bring it back to the warehouse in Hillfields and destroy it by shredding. Crow can also collect non confidential waste paper. At Crow warehouse the paper is sorted and sent to a paper mill for recycling. Crow is a registered charity providing work placements for disabled people.

The Scrapstore is open on Monday August 2 after our summer shutdown and appointments are no longer needed. The Scrapstore is open 9.30am to 3.30pm Monday to Wednesday from Monday August 2. Appointments are no longer needed but we are asking members to continue wearing face masks when they visit. Anyone who feels safer as the only customer, household or bubble in the Scrapstore can ring or e mail to make an appointment for a visit between 8.30am and 9.30am before the Scrapstore opens. The fill a bin bag for £5 from downstairs promotion for Scrapstore members is still running so don't forget to bring a bin bag. Annual membership remains at £10. Please bring your membership card if you are a member.